"Weak! Too weak!" shouted Leon Graves, the class monitor of Grade 3, Class 1, as he casually destroyed another slime with a swing of his sword. His voice echoed with pride, his attitude that of someone putting on a show.
The long sword in his hand crackled with arcs of lightning as it cleaved through the poor Level 1 slime, leaving behind scorch marks and over 180 points of damage. The creature never stood a chance.
"With my stats, these Level 1 monsters are just training dummies," Leon said with a grin.
Standing nearby were two girls, his teammates. Their faces were touched with light makeup, and their bright eyes gazed at Leon with admiration—although a bit forced. Still, the flattery was working. Leon's pride was swelling by the second.
He hadn't forgotten what happened yesterday.
During a group chat in the school's communication app, Leon had publicly tried to recruit girls for his team, boasting about his powerful skills and good gear. But his efforts were ruined by a loud online argument—all thanks to that chubby troublemaker Mason. His reputation had taken a hit, and people mocked him hard.
Now, he had finally gathered two teammates—though they weren't the S-Level stars he'd hoped for. Both girls were B-Level Talent users, a far cry from his original expectations.
Still, Leon made up for it with money.
He came from a wealthy background. His father was the president of a powerful guild, and Leon had spared no expense to impress. He bought his teammates a full set of green-tier, high-quality beginner gear, convincing them to join his team.
As for himself, Leon wore a blue-tier high-quality novice set, a rarity among Level 1 players. Its power was close to a Level 15 standard set, making his outfit extremely luxurious by rookie standards.
He wasn't like Mason, who had a grandfather who was an S-Rank blacksmith. But with money, Leon didn't fall far behind.
And it showed—his lightning-enhanced sword easily sliced through the slimes, which only had 50 HP.
Classmates nearby looked on with awe. Most of them were still struggling to defeat monsters, their basic attacks only dealing around 10 to 15 damage. Meanwhile, Leon was out here destroying slimes in a single hit. No wonder he felt like a king.
"I think I'm ready for more," he declared. "I'll skip ahead and start hunting Level 10 monsters!"
He was overconfident.
His teammates, eager to please, echoed his excitement.
"You're so strong, Mr. Leon!"
"Yes, you can totally handle it!"
Puffed up with their encouragement, Leon nodded. "My gear gives me attributes almost equal to Level 15. Fighting Level 15 monsters should be no problem."
With that, he led his little group deeper into the plains, heading for stronger prey, ignoring the worried glances of onlookers.
Watching from a distance, Lucas shook his head and chuckled.
"Yeah, your gear's great. But you're still just Level 1."
Even if Leon's equipment boosted his stats, his base attributes were nowhere near what a real Level 15 player had. To charge into that territory as a rookie was suicide.
"And don't forget," Lucas muttered to himself, "if you die, you'll lose a resurrection badge... and those things cost 50,000 yuan each!"
As if on cue, news quickly spread.
Leon had run into a Level 10 Earth Black Bear. He tried to fight it and was immediately flattened by one massive paw swipe. He burst into a pillar of white light and respawned back at the resurrection altar in Tianhai City.
He sat there dazed, sweating, his pride shattered.
"...What just happened?"
He was lucky. He had bought multiple resurrection badges, so he didn't permanently lose his character. The bear had come out of nowhere, and even the teachers monitoring the situation hadn't reacted in time to save him.
Who would've thought someone would charge so recklessly into the wilds at Level 1?
After that disaster, Leon toned it down. He humbly returned to the outskirts and began hunting Level 5 monsters, finally understanding that gear alone wasn't enough to protect him.
As for his teammates?
They had bolted the second Leon went down. They weren't rich enough to afford resurrection items, and the sight of Leon being instantly killed had scared them senseless. They survived by fleeing and refused to follow him again.
Of course, Lucas and Mason didn't see all this happen. If they had, they'd probably still be laughing.
---
Meanwhile, elsewhere on the plains, Alexis Lane—another highly watched S-Level Talent—was secretly observing Lucas from afar.
She looked calm and composed, pretending not to care. But her eyes kept drifting toward him and Mason, and her expression grew colder with each laugh they shared.
She was annoyed. Deeply annoyed.
Last night, she'd messaged Lucas privately, expecting him to respond with excitement. Instead, he brushed her off casually. That reply had made her furious. She'd even punched her favorite bunny plushie out of pure rage.
Now, here she was, swallowing her pride, hoping Lucas would be the one to approach her for a team-up.
But he didn't.
"He actually picked that clown Mason instead of me?" she fumed silently.
"Hmph! Who needs him? I'll level up faster on my own anyway!"
Grinding her teeth, she stared as the pair ventured further into the plains.
Then she took a deep breath, raised her staff, and summoned her magic. Ice-blue mana shimmered in her palm as she launched an Ice Arrow at a nearby slime.
BANG!
The slime froze instantly, then shattered from a follow-up hit. More than 300 damage points flashed above its head—a clean kill.
Gasps filled the air.
Dozens of students turned toward her, amazed at her raw power and control.
There she stood, elegant in a snow-white robe with glowing blue patterns, her staff glowing and her long silver hair fluttering in the breeze. She looked like something out of a fairy tale—an Ice Mage from legend.
"I don't need anyone," Alexis muttered. "I'm an S-Level Frost Mage. I'll do this solo."
Despite the crowd of lower-level students trying to approach her for a team-up, she brushed them off coldly.
She turned away with grace, ignoring their stares, and strode into the plains alone.
These slimes were too weak for her. They gave barely any experience, and she had her eyes on higher-level prey.
"One month," she vowed. "In one month, I'll be ahead of Lucas. He'll regret not teaming up with me!"
The thought of him looking at her in awe, begging to team up, made her heart burn with motivation. She clenched her staff tighter and marched forward, full of determination.
---
Across the field, many other students were making similar decisions.
Some were confident because of their skills, while others simply had rich parents who'd bought them premium gear. Either way, after trying out a few Level 1 slimes, they were eager to take on stronger monsters.
Their reasoning?
"If you want to rise faster, you have to be brave and invest early."
It wasn't just S-Level students doing this. Even B- and A-Level Talent users, with quality gear, believed they could take on stronger enemies despite being only Level 1.
Because at the end of the day, they were all aiming for the same thing: a spot in one of the elite universities.
Everyone knew that Talent mattered, yes, but so did level, gear, and combat experience. Even a C-Level student could outshine an A-Level if they worked harder and smarter.
And so the race was on.
Students were forming teams, venturing into the wilderness, and hunting monsters far beyond their comfort zone.
Among them, Lucas and Mason also moved deeper into the plains.
Lucas held the lead, his daggers glinting under the sun, while Mason followed behind, hammer slung over his shoulder.
They'd already left the beginner slime field far behind.
It was time to fight real monsters.
---